Home from the beach

8/26/13

We are back from Corpus Christi and the Padre Islands. It was a nice break from Arlington but still very hot. We had a good time walking the beach every day, playing in the waves and watching all the people.  As a side note, this may be "great state of Texas" but the great people of Texas are very litter prone.  I have never lived in a state where there is so much trash! I hate it. Especially on the beach.  I think they need to quit threatening to secede from the nation and start a campaign to pick up their trash. Yuck.

 Our beach view

 Sand Art

Jelly fish in the sand

 The trucks first ferry ride

One day we did a tour of the USS Lexington which is a huge ship that has been made into a museum. Lots of world war memorabilia and just interesting stuff to see. We spent a good three hours walking its decks and looking at all the displays.

Another day we took a very short boat ride to a deserted island called Saint Joe's. It is a very small island and the family that owns it doesn't live there. The 5 minute boat ride there and back again was $12! We spent several hours there but it wasn't really worth the price since the beach wasn't much different the any of the others and it actually had more trash. Oh well, at least now I can say I have been on a deserted island.

St. Joe's island 

A crab we saw that I thought was dead until he moved after this photo. Scared me to death.

We got back to Arlington August 19 to......you guessed it, more heat.  We were only here a few days before we took off for Meg's tournament in Oklahoma. We didn't take the rig but got a motel for the one night. The girls played well and we had a good weekend. I've started back to work here for Interactions Marketing company doing promos at the local Costco's.  Its kind of fun, easy work and I can pick and choose when I want to work.  Sean has been spending the time I am at work doing various maintenance tasks that we need to get done.

We also decided not to work at Amazon for the Christmas rush. We wouldn't be able to get there before the end of November which would only give us 5 or 6 weeks to work. We decided it just wasn't worth rushing there for that little bit of time.  Maybe we can do that once we are not committed to Texas for the volleyball season. On the other hand, we did accept a job on the Colorado River to work camp for the winter. We were going to hang out in that area anyway and now are site will be paid for. We just need to work 18 hours a week combined as a couple. Sounds easy and maybe we can learn how to fish!  This will put us close to Arizona and to California so we can see our kids and Arizona family and friends. We will start there around December 29.

Other news in the Finley family.....Our baby girl, Aislynn has started Kindergarten! I am not sure where time goes as I was just holding her in my arms as a newborn the other day.  Sean Jr. has been sent to fight the Yosemite fire. He has been working long days with little rest. I hope he gets home soon....

 Aislynn's first day in Kinder!

Sean's staging area near the Yosemite fire. Those aren't fluffy rain clouds in the back.

Cory and April moved back to California as April got her first full time job as a speech pathologist teacher! Cory is finishing up his degree and doing his Coast Guard duties.

We aren't doing much exciting traveling right now but we still manage to stay busy and have fun!

Back to the Lone Star State

7/28-8/1

As we left northern Arizona and headed onto Albuquerque, the weather just got hotter and hotter. We spent two days in Albuquerque and other then a nice bike ride, we didn’t do much. From there we headed to Amarillo and then to Wichita Falls. Not to be negative but neither one of these towns had much to offer but more HEAT and humidity. I got more and more depressed as we headed to Arlington as I knew it would not get any better.  We arrived where we started from on August 1, 2013.  We parked and got ourselves situated.  Other then getting to see Meg, I can think of a hundred other places I would rather have been.

Meg flew back from her summer camp job at Camp Victory Junction around 10:00 p.m. August 2.  We got there and met her as she got off the plane. Sean hadn’t seen her since her knee surgery and subsequent blood clots back in February.  It was a great reunion. By the way, she got cleared from her blood clots over the summer so she also got to quit taking her blood thinners! So, we headed to the carousel to get her big bags of luggage.  As we were waiting a worker came out with the most mangled piece of luggage we had ever seen! We were all shocked when we realized it was one of Meg’s pieces of luggage.

After taking it to the luggage security area and after a rather long conversation, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay her on the spot for a new piece of luggage and a $250 travel voucher for the rest of the things that were ruined. However, there was a wonderful quilt that her best friends grandma made her out of t-shirts that had much sentimental value to it and it now had several big wholes. There was no amount of money that could replace that. Poor Meg! She got a little upset about the whole thing but handled it with grace.  The Southwest customer service representative thanked her for all the control she showed.  We got home late and went to bed. The next day was going to be long, hot and hard as we planned to get her moved back into her dorms.

The day started slowly as Meg slept in.  We got over to Texas Wesleyan in time to get her checked into her dorm. However, it was a huge mess! It seems a male RA spent the summer in there and did not deem it necessary to clean it. The rugs were disgusting, paint was chipped, the floor filthy and I don’t even want to tell you what the bathroom looked like! Meg went and talked to the dorm supervisor and she came over and saw the disgusting mess and was abhorred! She apologized and promised to have a cleaning crew come through but we had to get her in the dorms that day as practice started the next!  We worked around the gross carpet and I scrubbed the floors and bathroom. Meg had way too many things for the small dorm room and we spent part of the day purging out what was not needed. I am not sure where my oldest and youngest got these hoarder tendencies but they sure like a lot of STUFF. 

After getting her moved in, we headed to the gym for her first volleyball meeting. It was a meet and greet so that the players and parents could meet the new coach.  She seemed very friendly and we ended the day on a positive note.  The next day Meg had another meeting and fitness test that went well but before she could practice, she had to be cleared by both her surgeon and physical therapist.  She had appointments with both of them for that Monday, August 5.  Those appointments went well with her getting clearance but orders to start slow and work her way back into a full practice. So far, she seems to be holding her own.  Her coach is very anxious to get her back to 100% as her blocking and offensive skills are greatly needed.  So far, Meghan is very positive about her new coach and all of her teammates.

Sean and I decided to head out and go to Corpus Christi for a while. Though it is certainly not any cooler then Arlington, at least there is some ocean to play in and catch a bit of a breeze from.  We stopped in San Antonio on August 8, before heading into Corpus Christi.  We walked around on the River Walk and took a boat through the waterways there and had dinner. I liked San Antonio quite a bit. I think I could hang out there for a while once it cools down. It was a really nice city with lots to do and see.

We got to Corpus on August 9 and when we were cruising around trip advisor that night to see what we should do, we saw there was going to be a turtle release the next day! We set our alarms and headed out before the sun came up to watch all these tiny little turtles go scrambling back into the ocean.  It was really interesting and fun and we felt lucky that we just happened to get there the night before the release.

We have spent the next few days hanging out at the beach and walking as many miles as we can take in the heat. Again, still hot but a little ocean breeze does help!  We are staying until August 19 when we will head back to Arlington and get ready for Meg’s first tourney in Oklahoma. We aren’t going to drive the rig up but just take the truck and get a motel for one night. Paying the gas to go all that way with the RV doesn’t make much sense!